Cape hikers body retrieved in Bainskloof

A hiker whose body was retrieved from the Bainskloof mountains may have slipped and fallen to his death, Western Cape environmental affairs MEC Anton Bredell said.

“It is suspected that the 24-year-old male hiker, Robert Barclay, fell down the edge of a waterfall. He suffered from vertigo,” he said.

“This again underlines the importance of acting in a responsible manner when going on walks in the mountains in our province.”

Bredell expressed condolences to Barclay’s family and commended the search team’s efforts.

Barclay, originally from Rondebosch, Cape Town, had flown in from Botswana and was staying with friends at a lodge on Eerste Tol. He went for a walk around 6pm on Saturday and did not take a backpack or refreshments with him. He never returned.

After a A 3 day search, in which up to 79 people covered about 300 hectares of mountain, emergency services found his body in a gorge 250m deep on Tuesday morning. A rescue team spent two hours retrieving his body, located on the Wellington side of the Bainskloof Pass.

Bredell said a police investigation would confirm the exact cause of death.